Pokemon Go's New Plan To Prevent Cheating Is Brilliant

Niantic Labs' Pokemon Go is still going strong and they're still pumping out new content for the game, along with working on brand new security measures... such as a way to prevent people from cheating. Their latest method is somewhat brilliant for those who have been scheming to get rare Pokemon in the game. Gamers playing Pokemon Go who were previously flagged for using trackers and spoofers will be blocked from seeing certain content on the map when it comes to nearby sightings.

Pokemon Go Hub is reporting that Niantic Labs recently rolled out a new security measure for Pokemon Go. The update specifically targets those spoofing and using map trackers.

The measure only works on accounts that were detected by Niantic's service. Accounts that were flagged previously will be affected by this new measure and those users will no longer be able to see rare Pokemon on their map.

Pokemon Go Hub shows an example of a non-flagged account, where there are three Pokemon that show up in the nearby sightings tab on the app. The flagged account by Niantic only shows one Pokemon and it's one of the more common Pokemon given that rare ones are removed from the sightings tab.

It's kind of a brilliant bit of trolling, really, simply because as people attempt to cheat and spoof to find rare Pokemon, the security measure prevents them from seeing the rare Pokemon that they're trying to find using the spoofers and trackers.

This back and forth game of stopping cheaters isn't something that Pokemon Go Hub sees as being a long-term fruitful endeavor for Niantic Labs. In fact, they've noted that some cheaters have already found workarounds by creating new accounts in Pokemon Go and going right back to cheating by using third-party trackers.

Essentially, anyone who wants to keep cheating can do the exact same thing. If Niantic manages to get back around to flagging their accounts, then they'll end up being right back in the same position again where they won't be able to see rare items and Pokemon using the trackers for Pokemon Go.

The site also reports that a majority of their readership are okay with trackers. The next highest figure on their unscientific community poll saw their readers saying that they loved trackers. Just under 20% of their readership did not like Pokemon Go trackers.

The tracking issue has always been a hot topic in the community for the mobile app. Some people feel as if Niantic needs to add a legitimate tracking program to the game so players can travel to and find the Pokemon they want. Others feel as if trackers take away the mystery and adventure of the game because people will rely solely on the trackers instead of actually playing the game for themselves.

The article states that rumors within the development community note that many of the accounts that Niantic flagged are actually bot accounts. Whether or not that's true, some users are still saying it's unfair for players to get flagged by Niantic's system just for using trackers.

This seems like the kind of issue that will be ongoing for the duration of Pokemon Go's popularity on the market.